Looking for advice on an apartment least dilema

In My Humble Opinion
1

OK, basic situation is that last week I signed a lease on an apartment for January, and now my situation has changed and I’d like to back out of the deal. I’m looking for the best way to handle this both legally and ethically. Here’s a quick overview:

Signed the lease last week. It is month to month, requiring 60 day notice to terminate. Lease runs 1/1/08 through 12/31/08. Rent is $610, security deposit $915. Lease does state a $200 re-rental fee if I bail without notice, but also specifies that that doesn’t specifically release me from the lease. I wrote a check for the full security deposit when I signed the lease, but as of tonight I don’t think it has been deposited yet, or at least hasn’t cleared. State is Wisconsin.

The day after I signed the lease my buddy called me and let me know his roomate was probably moving out, and called me back tonight to say its offical. Roomate is paying rent though July, so basically I can live with him rent free and only pay bills until then. Financially this deal kills the apartment I had lined up, even if I had to eat the whole security depost or even if I had to pay two full months’ rent.

So, I’m sitting here with a lease in hand for an apartment that I haven’t moved into and don’t plan to. Apartment is not a coporate one or anything, my landlord owns several properties, but is a regular person I guess. I’d like to handle this us between us in a mutually beneficial way, and really don’t want to screw anyone over.

My first question is if I should stop payment on the check (if its not too late). My only concern here is that doing so could make the landlord mad right off the bat, and make this a battle right away. On the flip side, I wonder if I’ll ever see that money again otherwise.

My suggestion for a fair compromise would be that I offer the landlord the $200 re-rental fee, and call it a day. I don’t know if it was the “hard sell” or not, but before I signed the lease, they made it sound like there were other people interested, and that I was just their first choise. They’d still have 3 weeks to rent the place, so if they really have other people ready to sign, it should be no problem. I’d also offer them to pay an additional $450 to cover January’s rent if (and only if) they couldn’t find a tennant, but that would be my best offer. Does that sound fair and reasonable? Too generous?

Is there anything else I should do here? Like I said my goal is to be both fair and honest, and I don’t want to rip anyone off, but also don’t want to be ripped off myself. Bottom line is that if I could turn the clock back a week, this whole thing would be a non-issue.

Any advice would be appreciated, I can provide more details if necessary.

2

You might find some pertinent info. on this site:
http://wsll.state.wi.us/topic/landlord.html
I would NOT stop payment, it can be considered a criminal act.
Generally, a landlord is required to mitigate loss by rerenting within a reasonable time period. I’d guess that you will be able to negotiate, but it may cost you the amount already tendered.
I think I’d try to negotiate and if the landlord wants to play hardball, consult a local attorney .
IANAL, but I am a landlord, although not in Wi., I have no personal knowledge of Wi. law and my advice is only based on my own practical experience.

3

Couple additions to my post I forgot to ask.

First, I’m wondering what would happen if I put in my 60 day notice tomorrow? Does that notice generally mean you’re responsible for the whole month that the last day would fall in, or would it be broken up? Basically, would I be on the hook for January and a pro-rated portion of February, or for the whole month of Febuaray as well?

Also, if I did pay for the two months, would that mean they couldn’t re-rent until they were up? Or, if I don’t move in, could they move someone else in and still charge me rent until I fulfil my end of the lease?

I guess a lot of this is stuff I can go over with the landlord tomorow. I just hope they are as reasonable now as they were when I was sigining the lease. It does seem like a compromise could help both parties involved at least.

And, thanks for the info, especially the heads up about canceling the check A.R. Cane, I didn’t consider the legal ramifications of that.

4

I would just talk to the guy. If I was a landlord (and I’m not), I would just tell you that since you only signed the lease yesterday that it wasn’t a problem and I would just let you out. It isn’t like it’s costing him anything. But I’m a reasonable person, and maybe he isn’t, so who knows. I would explain the situation to him and ask him what you should do before offering money.

5

Ack! Don’t just stop the check, that’s a dead ringer for a scam. I would call the landlord and say that you feel horrible, but that your circumstances just changed (you don’t need to say why) in a rather unexpected, sudden way (this leaves things open- maybe your mother is sick, maybe you lost your job, maybe you’re pregnant, etc) that is altering your long-term plans. Tell him that you feel horrible about this, but that you’d like to work something out with him about breaking the lease and renting to someone else- say that you JUST found out and you wanted to talk to him as soon as possible so that it’s not a hassle to him.

If he’s a normal guy, he’ll understand, and hopefully he won’t be a stickler about the 60-days rent or the $200 fee.

My parents own an apartment building and they would be disappointed and annoyed at someone signing a lease and then coming back the next day, but they would understand and not give you a bum deal about it.

6

This is normally pro-rated. i.e., if you signed on the 15th of the first month, it would be the 15th of the second month that you would be out of there.

No way! If you pay for two months, you ARE THE TENANT for two months! They are certainly not allowed to double-lease. Also, depending upon your lease, you may be able to sublet to someone else during this time period and recoup a little of your loss- although this varies from place to place, and some landlords don’t like it. Perhaps you could offer this as a solution if the guy definitely wanted you to pay for the two months.